Why cycling makes us happy: the positive psychology of being on the bike

by Justin Coulson

Cycling is a beautiful sport. We hear it all the time. We experience it when we ride and race. For the ever-increasing number of us that have caught the cycling bug, we know how happy cycling makes us.

But what is it that makes us love cycling so much? Why are we so compulsively drawn to it? Why does cycling make us happy in a way that perhaps tennis, or swimming, or footy can’t?

The science of positive psychology investigates what makes life most worth living. Cycling seems to possess an array of attributes that boost happiness in ways that few other sports can claim. While many other sports may possess a small handful of these attributes, it seems that cycling may be one of very few that has them all.

Here are my 15 reasons cycling makes us happy based on the science of positive psychology:

Physical Health

Aerobic exercise is proven to be one of the greatest predictors of our physical health. Our body simply works better when we are physically fit. This is a widely accepted and understood principle, so I won’t go into any more detail on this one in this article.

Cycling is social

As a surfer, I would sit in the ocean and selfishly savour the serenity and the solo surf. Now and then I would glimpse another surfer walking along the beach towards me and I would curse them, hoping they would select another spot. Cycling is different. While solo rides are great, our best times on the bike often involve group rides with friends. Plus cycling is great for networking in ways that few other sports are.

Competence

Cycling is something that just about anyone can do. It is immensely accessible.

Savouring

Savouring is what we do when we mentally enlarge or magnify a pleasant experience. Savouring is a powerful wellbeing booster. Cycling is a sport that gives us enormous opportunity to “breathe it in”.

Whether it is the quiet appreciation of a panoramic view (think Gruber images, or your local hilltop or headland), the exhilaration of a fast descent, or the post-ride coffee and chit-chat as we relive the best bits of the bunch ride with mates, there is plenty to savour during (and after) most rides.

Gratitude

Gratitude and savouring often go hand in hand. It’s hard to savour without feeling grateful. Gratitude also makes us happy. Sometimes the things we feel on a bike can be sublime.

Cycling offers those precious quiet moments that fill us with awe and gratitude. While it might be on top of a world-famous peak, it can happen just as easily on a quiet suburban street as the sun rises, the day begins, and we feel that sense of awe, appreciation, or gratitude. It’s as though everything is right with the world – even when it’s not. And for that moment while we are on two wheels, we feel happy.

Goals

I’ve written previously on CyclingTips about the different kinds of goals we can pursue when we ride. It seems that while we exercise and seek improvement and mastery, we feel better about life. Our wellbeing increases. The pursuit of our goals makes us happy.

Sensation-Seeking and Risk

One of the exciting attributes of many sports is the sensation-seeking opportunities they afford. Research shows that physical activity is viewed as a way to achieve our need to be excited, lively and adventurous. Risk and opportunities for a ‘thrill’ can be part of every ride – and the buzz of a fast descent, the rush of a bunch sprint, or the challenge of an off-road track or rock-garden can give us a grin that lasts for days.

Accomplishment

Some scholars argue that accomplishment is one of the key contributors to our sense of wellbeing. Because of its accessibility, cycling is a never-ending source of accomplishment opportunities. Whether it’s a strava KOM or PR, a long-distance ride, an Everest experience, or reaching a personal goal, our cycling accomplishments are rewarding.

Flow/Engagement

Some people have described flow as the secret to happiness. It occurs when we are so engaged in something that we lose all track of time. We don’t notice anything at all because we are so immersed in a task that is at once optimally challenging and absorbing. Some of our most immersive, flow experiences occur on the bike.

Optimism

People who are optimistic believe good things are coming, and that the future looks bright. Optimists are also much happier than those who are fearful about the future. Because cyclists are goal-oriented, grateful, and engaged in their sport, we are always looking forward to our next ride (often to the detriment of other priorities!), and our optimism feels good.

Strengths

We feel good when we use our strengths. Strengths are things that we do well, feel authentic to us, and energise us. If we love cycling, we can usually identify our cycling strengths, and not much feels better than tearing our mates’ legs off while we take advantage of our strengths!

Restoration

True recreation is restorative. It helps us to re-create ourselves. While cycling can leave us exhausted, it is also restorative.We sleep better (which is crucial for wellbeing), and feel physically and mentally better for having had our ride.

Having a larger purpose in our lives provides meaning, and ultimately, greater happiness.

Positive Emotions

If we have a healthy orientation to cycling we feel a broad range of positive emotions when we ride. Joy, contentment, absorbed, satisfied, accomplished, alert, calm and peaceful, confident, powerful, excited – happy. It just feels great to be on the bike!

***

Ultimately, for all of these reasons and more, we feel good when we ride. This is the positive psychology of cycling. It is addictive, it feels great, and when we get the balance right it builds our social, physiological, psychological and even our cognitive resources.

What have we missed? Is there something else about cycling that makes you feel great?

what about schadenfreude, when you cruise past 100 cars stuck in traffic?

echidna_sg

I think you missed one absolute key function of cycling for most people – the release of “happy hormones”.

Endorphines, dopamine – If I don’t ride for 3-4 days I get much harder to live with and less effective at work, less conversational with the family etc etc… so much so that the wife orders me out of the house to go for a ride!

Surprisingly there is mixed evidence for ideas around runner’s high and hormone hits. Some researchers swear by it. Others are much more skeptical. Many cyclists (myself included) feel similarly to you despite the evidence. I alluded to it in reference to mental health though.

Andy B

I think it only takes me a day or two to get stroppy

velocite

I used to get runners high regularly but I don’t get a similar high from cycling – don’t know why. I surmise that running is a whole body experience, with everything moving, while on a bike you’re more of an energy machine, and that from the waist down. My $0.02.

echidna_sg

I get that too – for me, I definitely get more of a high from climbing (no pun intended!)… perhaps it is due to the “whole body experience” you get from crazy long climbs?

Steel

You forgot thumbs up on Strava for epics. That’s what it’s all about.I feel deflated unless I get a handful ?of thumbs?

Good article. I agree with mindfulness, meditation aspects. There’s nothing like the repetitiveness of pedalling and breathing to help free one’s mind from anxious thoughts

jules

then getting cut off and furiously chasing down the driver to give them a serve

Steel

That’s you Julsa. I’m like the dalai lama – forgiveness and shit, oooooommmmm. Unless I find their car and have some keys handy, that is.

jules

you’re more like those monks who are into boozing and womanising, then sit down to pray for a while

Good one, that’s big. AND..there’s conversation, talking about bikes and bits and rides and nutrition and…

Craig

The other consideration is that is really accessible. For not a lot of money you can get decent kit and fit in with virtually everyone else. $5k gets you a decent bike plus $1k for everything else and you are on the way to happiness. Beats a $100k Porsche.

Noelani Magnus

That sounds very decent! I’m on a $400 bike with a torch strapped to the handlebars and I’m still happy…

Damien

Prior to jumping on the bike I had a very bad era of Panic/Anxiety events. At worst I was in hospital and best being unable to move for hours. It was hard work to get through it. With professional help, medication and mindfulness I turned it slowly around.
I was previously a runner so had a reasonable engine and took up riding.
Love it.
I have been free from serious attack ever since. It is not the only thing that helped but I believe it has been integral. A sound mind in a sound body. Motto of the Carlton footy club.
Great to get out and ride. The freedom, the wind, even the gentle hum of the tyres as they roll across the bitumen.
Just good fun.

900Aero

Good to hear mate.

Efe Ball?

I’ll add to the gratitude; the teamwork is really a big part of why I ride. Friends riding their butts off to protect you before a sprint, or you turning yourself inside out to pace your skinny climber up a false flat.
The hug from the climber/the fist-bump after a successful sprint is PRICELESS.

Allez Rouleur

I’ve only been an avid cyclist for twelve years, far shorter than many of the cyclists I know. Now I ride for fun, for pleasure, for exercise, and for transportation (I don’t own a car). I’m also able to commute to work almost wholly on a MUP. I truly love riding a bike, working on them, planning out upgrades or new builds. Cycling is a significant part of my life, always there. I don’t know what I’d do without it! I actually started riding seriously after finishing uni, where I played varsity sports, and needed something to stay active. Here I am, with 2003 seeming long ago.

I do have to say though…I’d love cycling even more without the reckless, aggressive drivers. I wish I didn’t have to put up with them. Whenever I’m treated horribly by someone I fantasize about chaining them to a chair and asking them, “What do you like to do for fun?” Oh, golf. “Guess what? Would you like golf if a bunch of cyclists ripped past you as you were getting ready to put, nearly clipping you with their bars? Would that make your hobby fun?” No? “Okay, then why honk or throw things or clip me with your mirror when I’m out trying to enjoy my hobby?”

The number of safe, courteous drivers is sadly far, far outweighed by reckless ones. What other deadly machine do you take a simple test to operate at 16 years old and NEVER have to renew your license? The system is insane in the U.S. Throw in texting and phones and it’s downright dangerous to ride on open roads.

Oh well, I’m not giving up cycling. I compare it to surfers and sharks. They’re out there, hopefully they aren’t hungry for your leg.

Yes – wrenching on a build, or just basic DIY bike servicing is almost as satisfying as riding. Something about riding a simple machine, every part of which you have personally sourced, installed, and adjusted, and that you trust yourself to have done so. It’s a very rewarding endeavor.

blimit

There’s also the technology and bling that mere runners/swimmers miss out on. How many of us drool over the latest new equipment, get Wiggle-withdrawal symptoms & conceal our expenditure from partners all for the love of our bikes

Nostalgia. Cycling as an adult takes me back to my inner child where I was free. It was my first, or I guess, second mode of transportation as a youngster and it is a great feeling to get back to my roots and enjoy the ride.

bansidhe

When I am on a bike, 1) I feel like a kid again. and 2) I smack talk. :-)

Ian Macaskill

The beauty and efficiency of the bike adds to the joy of cycling – it becomes an extension of one’s physical being and needs care and “maintenance” just as ones body does.

Doesbrand

this is very true. The bike combines two of the most brilliant inventions of mankind: the wheel and the lever action. On a bike you can triple your speed compared to running, without using external sources. This gives a strong feeling of joy; being aware you’re highly efficient and using a simple yet brilliant piece of technique.

Rohan Pusalkar

An important aspect that separates cycling from some of the sports you mentioned is that cycling is not bound by the boundaries of a court or a field like the other sports.
The ability to ride beyond boundaries, freely without limits and upon your whim gives one wings. In most sports one is bound by the limits of the field or court as the case may be. In fact if you or the ball step outside such boundaries, you may actually default or lose the point or the game. With cycling there are no limits or boundaries. The lack of rules frees you physically and mentally. No speed is wrong and no position is inappropriate. On the road or off, pavement or bridge, uphill or downhill, slow or fast, anything goes.

Also important is that the view changes every minute. No chance of boredom or repititive fatigue. The same route done at different times of the day will feel different. Most sports can’t give you that.

These I think are critical differences that put cycling in a different league.
????

Coach Rob Manning DC

There’s also a certain chemistry component to cycling: the endorphins, the neurochemicals involved in the flow state, the sensations of pain and exertion. It all combines into a beautiful state of being that lets you know you’re alive and conquering the world for just a moment before real life returns.

darylcheshire

I just started riding 7.2 km each direction every day to Seaford railway station.
I’m a fat bastard.
watch this spot

Kateroo

I often notice how much I smile when I’m riding my bike. So I would add: Cyclists smile more often :)

true

it helps you get away from rapists

Jennifer Thompson

I’m glad I came across this article as I’ll be purchasing my bicycle soon.
It’ll be one of those folding types.
A friend suggested that would be easier to place in the booth of the car.

month’s ago I was ready to pull my hair out
yes as a homemaker I had reached a point in my life where I felt completely used and abused – cooking , washing I mean looking after the whole household with no me time.
ask any asian woman in Malaysia – story of their life.

In the past I’ve played tennis enjoyed it but it’s limited to playing only on a small area . similarly swimming.
I used to cycle when I was younger and it was a joy . Had a basket attached and used to help mum get her drystores , ciggarets and guniess stout.
Try riding in my country now in the neighbourhood that is- you’ll probably see Jesus a lot sooner.
only lately bicycle lanes have sprouted here and there.
now my goal is to lose weight and increase my network of friends.
Over here we need to drive to a safe area and cycle in a group. Such fun. Can’t wait.

WELCOME TO VELOCLUB INSIDER

VeloClub Insider is an exclusive membership that gains you first access to our best stories,
exclusive content curated just for you, as well as rides, events, training plans, pro-deals and more
that will connect you with a likeminded community of cycling enthusiasts.

HELP US CUSTOMISE YOUR EXPERIENCE

CONTENT PREFERENCES:

DO YOU KNOW ABOUT VELOCLUB INSIDER?

VeloClub Insider is an exclusive membership that gains you first access to our best stories,
exclusive content curated just for you, as well as rides, events, training plans, pro-deals and more
that will connect you with a likeminded community of cycling enthusiasts.